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Seven-year-old leukemia patient becomes honorary vet at Pittsburgh Zoo

June 24, 2015

Wednesday morning, Emily, a 7-year-old animal lover and aspiring veterinarian from Towanda, Pennsylvania, had one of her dreams come true, thanks to Make-A-Wish.

Emily, a leukemia patient, had the rare opportunity to go behind the scenes at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium as she treated her first patient, an alligator named Hawkeye.

Of course, to be able to treat such animals, she needed to be a veterinarian, so that is exactly what happened. The Pittsburgh Zoo made her an official honorary doctor. Emily got the full treatment, including a scrub outfit with her name on it.

She will accompany zoo staff on house calls throughout the day and help zoo operations run normally. Following her duties, she and her family will have the rest of the day to spend at the zoo.

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